Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Riviera Maya, is a line of resorts areas on the Yucatan peninsula, along the Caribbean Sea, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Our resort was part way between the airport at Cancun, and Playa del Carmen. It's a very large resort, with two large hotel/condo complexes. Both share the same beach.

It's a long stretch of beautiful white sand, gently lapped by the Caribbean blue water. There is a long line of coral and rock, along the beach. That makes it a bit tricky to get out into the water. We knew before we left, that this was the case. So, we made sure to take along some swim shoes.

But, this is March....and the water was COLD. This's my friend Jann, testing the water. She can usually stand water way below my comfort level. But, not here.

But, it was still a nice place to hang out.

You can rent 'personal water craft', or schedule a snorkling tour. It was interesting, to watch the snorkle tour boats come back in, through a cut in that rock and coral.

A pier there, let's you get out over the water, and see the beach from a different direction.

From here, you can easily see the line of rock and coral.

Lots of palapas...shade structures....line the beach.

There are rows of these jar-like things, on each side of the pier. We assumed they were for extra wave protection, but we didn't find out for sure.

Yes, the guys were with us. They just opted to not run up and down the beach with us, taking pictures and testing the water.

Sitting in the shade of a palapa....letting a nice young man bring cold, tropical beverages, was their idea of fun. Ours, too...for a while.

At the end of the day, the terrace outside Havana Moon...one of the many restaurants there...was a good place to relax, with a glass of good wine, and a view of the pier and the beautiful water.

There were two rows of those jars things, on each side of the pier. It must have had something to do with the pier, since that looked like the only place they were. We should have asked. Maybe someone would know...or, not.